Morning Muster: 12/5/2014

U.S. Marines with India Battery, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, carry out a fire mission during MEU Exercise 14 at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Nov. 20. The purpose of MEUEX is to train the different elements of the 15th MEU to work together to complete a wide variety of missions. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jamean R. Berry)

Half of new federal employees are vets; Fort Hood shooting victims could get Purple Hearts; hep C meds could cost more than $1 billion; violent sexual assaults up; vets march on Capitol for suicide-prevention bill; two female WWII vets featured

Nearly half of new federal employees are veterans, The Economistreports. This comes, in part, because of a Pentagon transition program that often points them toward government work, and in part because President Obama ordered the government to hire more vets.

The House approved a measure Thursday that would allow victims of the Fort Hood shooting to receive Purple Hearts, reportsThe Dallas Morning News‘ Kimberly Railey. They would also gain benefits typically afforded those injured in combat.

A new, extraordinarily expensive hepatitis C drug may cost too much for the Department of Veterans Affairs to pay, reportsStars & Stripes. VA has requested $1.3 billion to buy Sovaldi for 30,000 vets, and 114,000 may need it. The drug works faster with a higher cure rate and fewer side effects than other hepatitis C treatments.

The number of violent sexual assaults and rapes has increased in the military, even as the estimated number of sexual assaults dropped in 2014, reportsMilitary Times‘ Patricia Kime. Almost half the assaults reported by women and 35 percent by men were “penetrative sexual assaults.”

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America marched on the Capitol Thursday to insist that the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act be voted on by the Senate, reportsRoll Call‘s Bridget Bowman. The bill would require third-party review of VA and Defense Department suicide and mental health programs, a website detailing mental health services and a pilot program to pay for the education of VA psychiatrists.

The Bellevue Leader‘s Eugene Curtinreports that of the 120 veterans living in the Eastern Nebraska Veterans’ Home, two are women who served in WWII. One served as a nurse, and the other served as a Navy receptionist. It’s a nice bit of history for a Friday morning.

Bergmann & Moore, LLC, is a national law firm dedicated to serving the needs of veterans in compensation claims before and against the Department of Veterans Affairs. The firm’s partners are former VA attorneys who are very familiar with the VA system. Bergmann & Moore handles all kinds of cases, but has a concentration in claims involving PTSD, military sexual trauma and complex medical issues, such as brain cancer or degenerative issues, veterans exposed to Agent Orange often face. For more information, or to sign up for an email version of this blog, contact Kelly Kennedy at kkennedy@vetlawyers.com.